Feed saver for a poultry egg laying battery

ABSTRACT

A poultry laying battery is provided with a snap fit feed trough of generally U-shaped cross section extending along the front side of the battery. In order to prevent the birds scattering the feed, the side wall of the trough extending parallel to the front side of the battery is provided with a flange, slightly inclined downwards. An extension of the side wall is provided above said flange, with this extension being displaced away from the side wall by a distance substantially corresponding to the thickness of a bar forming a main component of the front side cage structure.

Andersson [4 1 Apr. 2, 1974 1 FEED SAVER FOR A POULTRY EGG LAYINGBATTERY [76] Inventor: Hakan Andersson, Kvarnliden 4,

532 00 Skara, Sweden [22] Filed: July 7, 1972 21 Appl. No.: 269,806

[52] US. Cl. 119/18, 119/61 [51] Int. Cl. A0lk 31/18, AOlk 39/00 [58]Field of Search 119/18, 19, 52 R, 61

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,593,689 7/1971 Van Huis119/18 3,611,995 10/1971 Murto 119/18 Primary Examiner-Louis G. ManceneAssistant Examiner-James H. Czerwonky Attorney, Agent, or Firm-Holman &Stern [57] ABSTRACT A poultry laying battery is provided with a snap fitfeed trough of generally U-shaped cross section extending along thefront side of the battery. In order to prevent the birds scattering thefeed, the side wall of the trough extending parallel to the front sideof the battery is provided with a flange, slightly inclined downwards.An extension of the side wall is provided above said flange, with thisextension being displaced away from the side wall by a distancesubstantially corresponding to the thickness of a bar forming a maincomponent of the front side cage structure.

3 Claims, 3 Drawing Figures MENTEDAPR 2 I974 SHEET 2 [IF 2 FIG. 3

FEED SAVER FOR A POULTRY EGG LAYING BATTERY BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTIONThe present invention relates to a feed saving arrangement for poultryegg laying batteries of the type in which a number of cages forindividual birds are arranged in a row. A feeding trough for such abattery has a generally U-shaped crosssection and extends along thefront side of the cages, each of which is provided with at least oneopening making the trough accessible for the fowl. One side wall of thetrough is attached to the lower portion of the front sides of the cages.

It lies within the nature of birds to kick and scatter the feed whenthey are feeding. When birds are enclosed in laying cages they can reachthe feed by their heads only, but nevertheless a considerable portion ofthe feed is lost by the birds pecking into the trough.

It has been proposed to provide flanges at the longitudinal edges of thetrough and in this manner a certain saving has been possible, but stillan important portion, say about percent of the ration, will be lost.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION According to the invention it is now proposedto provide the front side of each cage with a horizontal bar forming thelower support for a number of vertical rods constituting the mainportion of the front side and defining therebetween openings making thefeed trough available for the birds. Means are further provided forsecuring the trough to the front side, with the flange of the side wallof the trough adjacent to the battery below said bar, and an extensionof the one side wall extends above the flange and is displaced away fromthe front side by a distance corresponding to the thickness of the bar.

In this manner the possibilities of the birds scattering the feed willbe limited, while the feed is fully available, and a noticeable savingwill be reached.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 illustrates schematically aportion of a poultry laying battery, I 7

FIG. 2 is a view in cross section through a feed trough according to oneembodiment of the invention, and

FIG. 3 is a view partly in elevation and partly in crosssection of amodified embodiment of the trough, as mounted on a cage.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Each cage 10 has agenerally parallelepipedic form with side walls of wire mesh or boardsand with a bottom 11 of wire mesh. This bottom extends beyond the frontside of the cage and is inclined downwards in the direction of the frontside. It is terminated by a rounded edge portion 12 designed to catchthe eggs laid by the birds, and which roll forwards through an opening13 in the lower portion of the front side of the cage. A numberof suchcages are built together in a line to form a battery of suitable size.

The main portion of the front side of each cage is formed by a number ofvertical rods 14, the upper ends of which are attached to the topportion, or lid of the cage. The lower ends of the rods 14 are attachedto a horizontal bar 15 extending across the front side of the cage. Thedistance between the rods 14 is such that a bird, for which the cage issuited, may extend its head and neck between any two rods to reach thefeed distributed into a trough l6 fitted along the cages, below thehorizontal bars 15 and being carried by a number of brackets 25 attachedto the battery front below the bars 15. In the embodiment according toFIGS. 1 and 2, this trough will define the egg passage opening 13upwards.

A cross section of the trough is shown in FIG. 2. The trough 16 may bemade of metal or plastic and consists of a bottom portion 17 and twoside walls 18 and 19, respectively. The bottom portion 17 issubstantially planar, and the side wall 18, intended to be turnedtowards the battery is arranged perpendicularly thereto. The other sidewall 19 is inclined away from the first side wall and is terminated byan inwardly turned, yet upwardly directed flange 20.

The first mentioned side wall 10 is also provided with an inwardlyturned flange 22, which is inclined slightly downwards and is locatedsomewhat below flange 20. This side wall is'extended above flange 22 byan upwardly directed portion 21, the upper edge of which presents asmoothly rounded face towards the cage, as indicated at 26.

To reach the feed provided in the trough defined by the bottom 17 andthe side walls 18 and 19, the bird must pass its head beyond theextended portion 21 and the flange 22. The scattering movements possibleare small, and particles of the feed thrown around will be caught byportions 20, 22 and 21, 26 and deflected back to the trough.

To make possible an easy fastening in a suitable position, the extendedportion 21 is displaced away from the front side of the cage by adistance corresponding to the thickness of the bar 15. The trough maythen be snapped in place between the bar and the brackets 25. Therounded face 26 will furthermore be located in a more advantageousposition to prevent scattering while making it easier for the bird toreach the feed.

Water may be supplied to the cages in any suitable 'manner, for instanceby way of a second trough (not shown).

With cages provided with a feed trough of conventional design theattachment according to FIG. 3 may be utilized.

This trough consists of a bottom portion 17a and two side walls 18a and19a, each provided with an inturned flange 22a and 20a, respectively.The attachment to be fitted to side wall is designed as a three armedfillet suited to be fitted between the bar 15a and wall 18a with itsflange 22a. This fillet comprises a first flange 23 intended to befitted between the cage and side wall 18a, a second flange 21a, which inthe same manner as extension 21 of the first embodiment extends upwardsand is displaced away from the front side of the cage, as well as athird flange 25a resting on the flange 22a, whereby they together form adownwardly inclined structure. Also in this embodiment the flange 21a isprovided with a rounded edge 26a. This attachment will provide the samefeed saving properties at a trough of conventional design, as does theembodiment according to FIGS. 1 and 2 What I claim is:

1. A feed saver for a poultry egg laying battery comprising a number ofcages arranged in a row, each cage being designed to accommodate asingle bird and having a front side provided with a feeding opening anda rods constituting the main portion of the front side of each cage anddividing the feeding opening into a number of passages, each permittinga bird enclosed in the cage to extend its head and neck therethrough,means mounted on said battery for securing the said one side wall of thetrough to the battery so said flange structure is located below saidbar, the outer end of said flange structure having a bearing surface topermit the releasable snap-fit mounting of said trough between saidhorizonta] bar and said securing means, and an extension of said oneside wall of the trough extending above said flange and being displacedaway from the front side of the cage by a distance corresponding to thethickness of said bar.

2. The feed saver according to claim 1 in which the flange structure andthe extension are formed as a separate, three armed fillet, having afirst arm for fitting between the front side of the battery and the oneside wall of the trough, a second arm providing the displaced extensionof the one side wall, and a third arm defining together with an inturnedportion of the one side wall said downwardly extending flange structure.

3. The feedv saver according to claim 1 in which said extension has afree edge, and the free edge of the extension being tumed inwards withrespect to the trough and presenting a rounded surface towards the cageserving to deflect any thrown seed back into the trough.

1. A feed saver for a poultry egg laying battery comprising a number ofcages arranged in a row, each cage being designed to accommodate asingle bird and having a front side provided with a feeding opening anda feeding trough outside and below said feeding opening, said troughhaving a generally U-shaped cross section with one side wall adapted tobe fitted parallel to the front side of the battery and being furtherprovided with an internal downwardly extending flange structure turnedtowards the opposite side wall of thE trough, the improvement includinga horizontal bar mounted on said battery and extending across the frontside of each cage to form a lower support for a number of vertical rodsconstituting the main portion of the front side of each cage anddividing the feeding opening into a number of passages, each permittinga bird enclosed in the cage to extend its head and neck therethrough,means mounted on said battery for securing the said one side wall of thetrough to the battery so said flange structure is located below saidbar, the outer end of said flange structure having a bearing surface topermit the releasable snap-fit mounting of said trough between saidhorizontal bar and said securing means, and an extension of said oneside wall of the trough extending above said flange and being displacedaway from the front side of the cage by a distance corresponding to thethickness of said bar.
 2. The feed saver according to claim 1 in whichthe flange structure and the extension are formed as a separate, threearmed fillet, having a first arm for fitting between the front side ofthe battery and the one side wall of the trough, a second arm providingthe displaced extension of the one side wall, and a third arm definingtogether with an inturned portion of the one side wall said downwardlyextending flange structure.
 3. The feed saver according to claim 1 inwhich said extension has a free edge, and the free edge of the extensionbeing turned inwards with respect to the trough and presenting a roundedsurface towards the cage serving to deflect any thrown seed back intothe trough.